Oak park IL police hand out crime prevention devices for free

[Nutczak]

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Is it only coincidence that the words "Idiot" and "Illinois" both start with the same letter?
Maybe one of the members of that towns governement thought London presented a novel idea by their police only carrying whistles instead of firearms.

So what happens next, will the criminal robbing you then be able to sue you for damage to his hearing from blowing your whistle while he is raping your daughter.
Maybe Barrett could have blew his whistle to stop the beating he took for being stupid?

These people should be beaten about the head and neck with a frozen carp for being such morons!

Oak Park crime: Police pass out whistles to help residents fight back
Thousands of Oak Park residents are being equipped with a simple device to help fight crime in the village.

Police are passing out whistles that they are urging citizens to blow if they are victims of or witnesses to a crime.

Officers distributed hundreds of the shiny whistles at two stations along the CTA's Green Line in Oak Park on Friday and will be passing out more Wednesday along the Blue Line. Giveaways elsewhere are expected to take place in the weeks ahead.

"We think they are going to go quick," said Oak Park Police Cmdr. Keenan Williams.

The village conducted a similar program in the 1980s, and Police Chief Rick Tanksley earlier this year suggested bringing it back after statistics showed that burglaries and robberies were on the rise.

Cell phones are often taken during robberies, leaving a victim without a means to quickly call the police. But if a victim or witness to the crime blows the whistle it is hoped someone within earshot will call 911 and report the incident immediately, Williams said.

The village had about 3,000 whistles delivered at a cost of about 50 cents each, he said. The cost was paid by Community Bank, whose logo is on the side of each whistle. If this first round of giveaways is a success, Williams will seek more sponsors, he said.

Commuters at the Oak Park Avenue station Friday seemed to think the low-tech approach was a good idea.

"I would use it," said Charlotte Niznik of Oak Park, who witnessed two thefts on the "L" in recent days. "It's a universal signal."

Thelma Varnado of Oak Park said she planned to put her whistle on her key chain.

"I think it will make a difference," Varnado said. "If people use it and are aware, I think it can be a deterrent."

But not everyone thought using whistles for crime fighting was a great idea.

"I think it's kind of a waste," said Tom Jablonski of Oak Park, who thought the sound of whistles blowing wouldn't have much of an impact because people might think it's just a child's toy.

Officers are willing to take that chance in hopes that ultimately they will help stop a crime and empower residents, Williams said.

Officers likely will visit senior citizens buildings soon to distribute the whistles to those who may be most vulnerable to crime, Williams said.

For more information about the whistle program, call 708-386-3800 or e-mail police@oak-park.us.



link to the actual story>>>http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/west/chi-oak-park-whistles-w-zone-9dec09,0,5280002.story

 

[scorpio_vette]

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Nutczak wrote:

Cell phones are often taken during robberies, leaving a victim without a means to quickly call the police.
and where do you think most of the whistles are going to end up??? in the purse next to the cell phone. you don't honestly think that all these grown people are going to hang a whistle around their neck or even make such hanging around their neck a daily routine???

Thelma Varnado of Oak Park said she planned to put her whistle on her key chain.
mind if i ask where these keys are going to be located if your purse gets stolen, or if it gets knocked away during a struggle with some guy trying to rape you???

.....because people might think it's just a child's toy.
i honestly would have to admit, that would be my first though, and i probably wouldn't concern myself with the sound anymore. hell people don't even pay attention to car alarms anymore, do you really think people are gonna get all worked up over what will sound like a kid playing???


Officers are willing to take that chance in hopes that ultimately they will help stop a crime and empower residents, Williams said.
empower???..............REALLY??? you want to empower, give people guns and offer them free training and range time. make them efficient with the guns. allow open and conceal carry, and make it 100% LEGAL with no question about it. that way EVERY CRIMINAL will know that since it's legal ANYBODY might be carrying.
in my opinion handing people whistles as crime deterrent is almost as insulting as handing woman condoms as "rape pregnancy preventions".
and what do i do with the whistle in my house during a forced entry/armed burglary incident??? throw it at them???



Officers likely will visit senior citizens buildings soon to distribute the whistles to those who may be most vulnerable to crime, Williams said.
old people vulnerable??? hell the old people seem to almost agree with the damn gun laws. they believe in self defense??? i know i can remember 2 or 3 news stories here in the area where a guy tried robbing a old lady, or an old guy and ended up being hospitalized after getting the shit beat out of him with a purse or cane.

 

[GLOCK21GB]

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lol, yeah..a whistle will stop a crime.:lol:

 

[logan]

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I LOLed reading scorpio_vette's comments!

I wish the local PD here would give me a whistle. I'd feel much safer then. And just to make sure I'd never lose it, I'd keep it in my mouth like a pacifier!

 

[McX]

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no, you blow the whistle as you draw.great story to catch nutzak!

 

[Shotgun]

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I don't think the Onion could have written this story to be more funny. I'm sure they have such confidence in whistles that they will soon arm their police force with only a whistle.

 

[PolskiG]

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cops need to stick these whistles up their asses. Would you get detained and search in Illinoisif you declined a whistle from a cop and told them that you justcarry a gun instead?

 

[Old Grump]

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PolskiG wrote:

cops need to stick these whistles up their asses. Would you get detained and search in Illinoisif you declined a whistle from a cop and told them that you justcarry a gun instead?

Good thing is not all of the Oak Park police believe that policy is going to change a thing but it is an upscale town and a very liberal influenced government. The police administrators have to parrot the policy if they want to keep their jobs and their pay scale is good enough that they really want to keep their jobs. What the political types in the police dept. do not want to do is have to go back to the streets. It's dangerous out there and tedious. Makes me glad I came back home. Well mostly glad, now we need to get our rights back too.

 

[JustMe]

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I bet that there will be a "whistle buy-back" program in the next two years in Oak Park due to the disturbing number of 'unintended whistlings' that were committed (police summoned to what they think is a crime scene, turns out it's a kid blowing on one, kids that choke on them, crime victims found stabbed or shot with whistles rammed in their mouths, etc., etc.). $50,000 will be amassed from the Community Bank that was given to them from the CDC, $20,000 will be spent on the program costs (admin, tents, signs, food, admin, overtime, etc., etc.), and 6000 whistles will be turned in for a $5 gift card at a local retailer.
It will soon be realized that twice as many whistles were turned in as handed out by the Community Bank, but they will be glad to have gotten that many other whistles off the streets. Some were broken and missing their peas, and others looked more like kazoos and pen barrels, but were certainly able to make a whistling noise. Funnily, the people that handed in the most whistles and received the most gift cards were buying whistles to the tune of 2-5 to the dollar in the local retailers stores, and in a couple of cases were employees of the retailers.
But there will be a great photo op for community leaders as they gather round the trash container full of handed in whistles with a couple of real trophy pieces: Two tarnished yet operalble U.S. Navy marked Boatman's Whistles that were no doubt stolen from Great Lakes Naval Center and could now not be used by or against ordinary civilians anymore, because they were going to be ground up and smelted at a local salvage yard and the raw materials be made into a stylized King Midas statue by a local artist empowered with an NEA and state arts grant to the tune of $65,000.

 

[Old Grump]

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It's boatswain not boatman but other than that your little flight of fantasy makes as much sense as the phony stats the anti's ever make up. I can see it now, some kid blows a whistle, a referee blows a whistle, a doorman hailing a taxi blows a whistle. All get taken in for false alarms and have to face the judge on charges of disorderly conduct.

Makes me almost want to buy a whistle and go back down there to test it out. I bet I could walk up and down the streets for days blowing the whistle before somebody calls the police and they wouldn't be asking me where the crime is or do I need any help, I'll get a ticket for disturbing the peace and my whistle taken away.